Question

What are some advantages and disadvantages of a country being under foreign control?

Answer 1

Religion: colonialism has helped to spread religion especially the Christian religion. The European missionaries brought Christian religion to their colonies and taught the people of the colonies the religion very well. In the process of learning the religion the colonial masters also made the people acquire new skills. This brought about a development in the people as they were being liberated from the illiteracy which had kept them in the dark for many years.

Language: the adoption of the language of the colonial masters by the colonies has fostered unity to an extent in most multilingual and multicultural nations. A clear example is seen in Nigeria which has well over five hundred languages. Since no language is considered superior to the other, it would be difficult for any of the native languages to be made the lingua franca. The adoption of English language has made things easier for Nigerians as the language is foreign and does not belong to any particular ethnic group or people in the country

Unfamiliar system of government: the colonial masters brought new and alien systems of government which the natives were not familiar with. These systems of government gave less importance to, and had less regard for the systems of government of the colonies. The methods of ruling which were introduced to the colonies were completely different from what the natives were used to. The new systems of government imposed taxes on the natives and also came up with new, strange and harsh laws for the natives.

Dispersion, destitution and death: colonialism caused the dispersion of natives. Some of the natives who could not stand the suffering which they were being subjected to had to flee their lands to different lands in search of better lives. Others who remained in their land were made destitute. The colonialists had power over all the things in the colonies. They took over pieces of land which belonged to the natives and made them dependent on their masters. Due to this many natives were subjected to extreme need of a means of subsistence. Colonialism caused the death of a lot of natives. The harsh living conditions at that time drove many natives to flee from their homes and in the process sent them to their graves. Others died as a result of the hardship and destitution which they were subjected to by the colonial masters. The natives, who were free men, became slaves in their land.